Hi all, please enjoy and please review. I greatly greatly greatly appreciate them. So much you don't even know. I get so excited thinking of all the things I have planned for this story. :)
Something a bit more significant than the daily unrest among the outer ridges of Anaheim had caught the eye of Valder. He was returning to Earth that day to give the information as well as be updated on their current situation. Thor wished that Odin could be there so that the two of them could actually come to a decision on what to do. Not that he believed Anaheim should dictate their actions, but he disliked not having anything to report to Valder. Especially when the king was coming to them with information himself.
Thor planned to tell him that Thanos may already have eyes on them. He sent a message to Odin with that news and discovered that his father was preparing Asgard for war. The guards had informed him of that. Nothing so big that it was noticable by the citizens, but enough to make sure they were protected.
"You shouldn't eat the green part." Lila was informing Hena. She held up a strawberry to the princess, pointing out the edible leaves.
Hena carefully took the strawberry from her. Then she bent up the leaves so she used that to hold the fruit.
"If you do that, you'll avoid everyone of them." she gave a small smile.
"I'm not very good at that yet." Lila informed her "I always get one of them in my mouth."
"I'm sure it'll get easier." Hena assured her "My mother's favorite fruit is a strawberry. In fact, my father planted a bunch of them in a spot right outside her balcony. He proposed to her in the patch. Now my mother can go and pick one anytime she wants one. From inside her room."
"Wow. That would be kind of fun." Lila admitted.
Hena nodded "So, my mother has shown us all the proper way to eat a strawberry. She always told us it was shameful to miss some and let it go to waste."
"What does shameful mean?" Lila asked with a small confused scowl.
"Wrong." Hena simplified for her.
The Anaheimien guards had returned with a few treats from their realm that morning. Several containers of fruit. Some exotic, but mainly ones known to Earth. Tony had remarked to Banner that the reason Hena was so little was probably because they lived off of nothing but fruit.
"I think they're my favorite fruit too." Lila informed her.
Hena nodded enthusiastically "They are very delicious. We eat them often on Anaheim."
Tony pointed over at Banner and nodded silently, signaling the confirmation of his belief.
Meanwhile, Captain America spoke to Thor quietly a few feet away.
"So, is our position compromised?" he asked "Do we need to move now?"
Thor shook his head "Loki cannot be for certain that they can open a portal back to the same place, even if Red Skull could tell them where to go."
"In my experience, it is better to stay on the safe side." Captain America replied.
"Moving the scepter now could cause more problems than are necessary." Thor spoke quietly, as not to start a bigger conversation right now.
Captain America took in a deep breath and then nodded, accepting his answer. Laura's eyes flicked over to Hena and Lila for a moment, looking confused for a second and then enlighted.
Lila now had her mother's phone and was explaining something to the woman from Anaheim.
"You have to hold it away from you and then you can take a picture so that it gets all the people in it." she said.
"Okay." Hena accepted the information completely, although she had to be confused. Loki's eyes rose slightly to watch her, although he didn't lower his book.
"Do...do you want me to smile?" Hena asked, placing one hand kindly on Lila's arm as she turned to her questioningly. That made Loki smile ever so slightly and then his eyes returned to his reading.
"Sometimes, but I usually make faces." Lila set the phone down and turned to the princess "You can stick out your tongue. That's what my brothers do. But sometimes people make this face."
The girl pursed her lips and scowled very deeply, head tilted to the side. Hena leaned to look at her face, her expression uncertain. She a glance at the others so swiftly, none of them had time to acknowledge it.
"Alright." she said.
Lila picked the phone back up and held it up a bit above them. Loki finally closed his book to watch them, folding his arms in the process. His face was adequately amused, if not mildly curious.
Hena smiled in the first few and then only made faces when Lila did. No matter how dire their situation was, everyone in the room could find a bit of humor at that.
"Sometimes people hold up their fingers this way too." Lila said, holding up her middle and index finger about an inch apart. Hena copied her and then finally laughed herself.
"Why?"
"That's the peace sign." Lila informed her.
"This signals peace here?" Hena asked, looking at the child's hand. Lila nodded importantly.
"Oh. Interesting." Hena nodded at her in return. Then she glanced at Loki for several seconds. He had a partially delayed reaction when he shook his head at her. Then Hena shrugged, almost as if in response to a silent conversation.
Fandral cocked his head slightly at this and then gestured something at Thor. He tapped his head subtly and then waved his hands between Loki and Hena. Thor's eyebrows went up for a second before he also shrugged. Neither Loki nor Hena had mentioned that they could communicate telepathically, but it wouldn't shock him.
"Then you can look at them." Lila said, holding up the phone to the woman. Hena carefully took it and then raised one hand to her mouth.
"Oh my." she said, her voice laughing.
"What?" Lila asked.
"I just look...funny." She stood up with the phone "Loki, look at this."
Loki immediately took a step away, face fading to seriousness.
"Don't you dare." he said.
Hena looked down at the phone for a half-second and then back at him with a smile "Oh, I wasn't going to. I was just coming to show you."
Loki raised and lowered his eyebrows as if he didn't quite believe her.
"Okay, we won't do that." Hena said, turning back around and handing the phone back to Lila "Thank you, that was very fun."
Lila nodded a few times at her before picking up the coloring book in front of her and heading over to her mother. She was already opening the pictures to show them to Laura by the time she got over there.
"She's such a sweetheart. A lot like Mazi. I think they would get along very well." Hena spoke to Loki confidently.
Loki tilted his head "Who doesn't get along with Mazi?"
Hena guffawed "My parents right now. She's been very crazy these past few months." then she scowled slightly "And may I add that all of the silverware in the palance keeps on mysteriously disappearing? I really wonder who taught her that."
"I haven't the faintest idea of what you're referring to." Loki replied, his face remaining neutral. Thor's eyebrows went up at him.
"I bet you don't." Hena said "I swear, my father is going to throttle that girl."
"Well, that wasn't me." Loki informed her with a small smile "Mazi is a clever girl. I'm sure she's come up with some amazing ideas."
"Hm. Okay." Hena said, eyeing him for a moment. She turned slightly and then glanced back "I'm going to go and talk to my guards for a moment. I'm sorry, they're really frustrating me. They don't need to be here."
"If they listen to you above your father, let me know." Loki said after her as she walked outside. As he turned his eyes over towards Thor, he found that his older brother was staring at him rather pointedly.
"What?" he asked, obviously slightly disgusted by his attention.
Thor scowled "We did that."
Loki turned his head in irritation as if he didn't quite hear him. Or was simply confused at the statement.
"We hid all the silverware." Thor said, finishing the statement, eyebrows knitted "Frequently."
Loki's eyebrows went up for a moment "I'm sorry, I have no memory of this. You must have done that with somebody else."
"Oh, be quiet." Thor said in annoyance.
"I will." Loki obliged, although not without a brief stare down. He turned to follow Hena outside with Thor's gaze on his back the whole time. Surprisingly, the God of Thunder's eyes showed a bit of satisfaction and not at Loki's compliant silence.
"Hiding the silverware, huh?" Fandral asked with a smile. Thor glanced at him, coping his expression.
"What?"
"Is that why dinner was delayed some celebratory evenings?" Fandral folded his arms with contained laughter.
"No, of course not. We stopped doing that so long ago, I can't even remember the last time we did." Thor said, with a hint of a smile "Seems like it's been passed on anyway."
Nathaniel balanced precariously on Cooper's back and reached one arm up to grab the branch above him. They were trying to reach it so one of them could actually get on top to pull the other one up. So far, they weren't having much luck. Cooper was clearly getting frustrated with his younger brother, who was struggling to grab the branch.
Even though Loki's prediction held true and the Anaheimien guards didn't listen to Hena, she was still having a fun time talking to them. The relationship she had with them was much different than Thor and Loki had ever had with those on Asgard. They made friends with a few, but they had never gone out of their way to be around them. Even now, the Asgardian soldiers weren't really acknowleding the fact that Hena was there. Granted, were standing guard over the scepter-and Loki-so they had a reason to be more stoic. The God of Mischief was waiting not far off from Hena, but he didn't join in their conversation.
"You'll have to stand taller, Cooper." Nathaniel rationed with his older brother. Cooper snorted.
"I can't stand taller, you dork. You try getting on the bottom and I'll stand on you."
"Yeah, you'd squish me." Nathaniel replied.
"Well, this is stupid." Cooper took a few steps back "Here, step off. I'll go grab one of the little stools."
"I still won't be tall enough for that." Nathaniel complained. He'd already explained that to his brother.
"I'll just pull you up, come on." Cooper said, leaning further down.
"Cooper, wait." Nathaniel starting sliding down his back. He attempted to jump at the end, but his foot got caught on his brother's neck and he fell forward, catching himself with his hands. Cooper immediately turned, his face nervous. Nathaniel shook out his wrists, his face a pained mess.
"Sorry." Cooper said, obviously understanding that an apology was necessary.
His younger brother was just beginning the age where he refused to cry, but this was not one of these times. He turned around so that Cooper didn't see him and began to walk back to the house. His face was a grumpy scowl as he fought off tears.
"Nathaniel, wait, I really am sorry." Cooper said, following him quickly. Even though his parents would most likely not blame him, he never realized that until after. Right now, he obviously still worried about punishment.
Loki watched the boys go by briefly, but he didn't intervene. Hena, on the other hand, excused herself from the guards and followed them quickly.
"Are you alright?" she asked, catching up to them on the porch.
Cooper probably would have hesitated before revealing anything to someone they had known so shortly, but Nathaniel spilled it all out instantly. They were right by the doorway, where Hawkeye and Laura could hear.
"Cooper made me fall off his back." he complained "It feels like my wrists are broken now."
"I said I was sorry." Cooper objected, arms out indignantly.
"Here, let me see them." Hena said, lowering herself down to the child's height. She gently took his wrists and brushed two fingers over them, one at a time. Oddly enough, not only did Nathaniel stop crying, but he suddenly appeared much happier.
"Is that better?" Hena asked, leaning to see his eyes. He nodded quickly.
"Yeah, thanks!" he said, turning back around to head outside. Cooper, like his parents and everyone else, looked surprised and very confused.
"Wow, how did you do that?" Laura asked, eyebrows up as her oldest slowly followed him "That usually takes us a bit longer to patch up. Can you take away pain too?"
Hena shook her head "No, that's not what I did. I saw it happen. He didn't fall far enough for them to hurt that badly. I can influence emotions, so I just made him feel happy instead of sad."
Laura glanced at Hawkeye, impressed.
"Wait. You can actually make someone feel happy?" Tony asked pointedly.
Hena nodded "I can also sense emotions. Similar to mind reading, but easier."
"That could be useful in day to day activites." Tony said.
"Why, so you could score on dates?" Black Widow asked dryly.
"No, emotions aren't necessary for that." he replied off-handedly. He walked over to Hena "So you could make anyone, anyone, in this room happy right now?"
"Yes." Hena replied, nodding.
"Hm." Tony looked away with the words, then back again "Well, I'm game."
"Game?" Hena asked, turning her head slightly.
"Make me happy." he repeated "I want to feel this."
"I assume-and hope-you've felt happy before." Hena replied and then paused as if that weren't the end of her sentence. She pulled back her head "Nope, I can't do it. I can't. I can't call you by your second name." she shook her head "I do not understand why that is so normal here."
"Last names here aren't as significant as they are where we come from." Thor said.
"But doesn't that mean they should be less likely to use them?" Hena inquired.
"It's our way of being friendly without being too friendly." Tony replied "We tend to keep that in low supply here."
Hena eyes him for a moment, as if confused with the statement. Tony's eyebrows went up as they sat in silence for just a bit longer than was usually deemed as appropriate.
"Well, I'll do it if you want." Hena replied, gesturing at him.
"Yes, please." Hawkeye said with a few nods "Make him less annoying."
Hena glanced at him with humor in her eyes as she took Tony's hand. Black Widow leaned forward from her seat on the couch, lips pursed slightly. Based on how easily she turned Nathaniel's mood around, they could expect pretty much anything.
"It might come on stronger than you think." Hena cautioned "People who lean toward more extreme actions may be inclined to do something rash."
"Oh?" Captain America asked, nodding a few times at her. She glanced at him briefly, but then back to Tony.
"Ready?" she asked, her voice calm.
"Wait, wait. Let me take a second." Tony said, closing his eyes. She did as he asked, although she was aware he was being sarcastic "Okay, I think I'm ready." he let out a dramatic breath and shook out his shoulders.
Hena raised an eyebrow at him for a moment before her eyes became more concentrated. It took a moment, but Tony smiled, blinking several times at her. She released him immediately, eyes expectant and amused.
"Hm. That. That feels very nice." he said, shaking a pointed finger at her a few times "We might need to give a bit of that to the rest of them in here."
"I'm glad you liked it." Hena replied evenly, holding back a smile "But we'd best not do it anymore. I hardly ever do that for people and especially when they know about it. In fact, I think that may only be the second time I ever have without their knowledge. It can cause infatuation."
"I believe it." Tony said.
"Have people addicted to you might not be so nice, I assume." Captain America said, looking at her.
"Correct." Hena replied, nodding "Although, addicted is probably not the best word. This is purely emotion and very individual to each person. No one really knows how it feels to be someone else's form of happy. Or any other type of emotion."
"I feel like that should go in a book." Hawkeye said with a small chuckle. Black Widow raised her eyebrows in agreement.
"It seems that could make good friends." Tony said, inclining his head to Loki outside.
Hena followed his gaze for a quick second "Loki? No. I've never actually been able to manipulate his emotions. He's never let me. Even when I don't tell him I'm going to do so. To be completely honest, I can always tell when a man has interest in me, but I can't tell one way or another with Loki through his mind or his emotions. With physical contact it becomes easier, but very rarely can I break through his barrier with feelings. Unless he let's his guard slip."
Thor's mouth curved down for a moment and his eyebrows went up at the same time.
"I've tried numerous times, believe me. It think that's one of the few times he's ever been cross with me. The first time, eesh, he was not happy." Hena continued with a firm shake of her head.
"How interesting." Fandral said, kindly. Volstagg looked at him with a small scowl that conveyed "really?" in his direction.
"Yes, isn't it?" Hena replied, staring at him with her warm brown eyes. Then she turned around to return to her conversation she had left with the guards.
"She doesn't need to read your mind to know anything about you, Fandral." Volstagg chastised, shoving his friend slightly.
"I sure hope not." Fandral replied, with an obvious grin. Thor laughed under his breath.
"I should have asked her about negative feelings." Tony said.
"Generally those are included on the emotion spectrum." Black Widow answered with a small smirk.
"Well, we could so very obviously use a dose of negativity around here, guys." Tony said incredulously.
"Does anyone know when her parents are showing up?" Captain America asked, obviously and pointedly changing the subject, eyebrows raised. However, it seemed to be in good humor.
"She didn't mention that." Thor replied.
"Hopefully later, I don't want to hear the news." Banner said.
"Ah, negativity!" Tony said, pointing at him "What makes you think it's bad?"
"The fact that Valder is coming to tell us himself." Banner replied coolly.
"He's a nice guy, maybe he likes us." Tony said with a shrug. Then he glanced down at his watch on his wrist. At least, it appeared to be a watch, but he also controlled suits from it.
"Well, look at that." he said, holding it up so he could see properly "One of the suits just picked up something."
Everyone paused for a moment, eyes on him.
"Like literally or...?" Banner inclined his head questioningly.
"Nope, a foreign object or being or whatever you want to call them just appeared on their radar." he lowered his arm "Sorry you didn't get the lingo there."
"I actually think that's just a figure of speech." Volstagg said.
"Yeah, well, what would you know?" Tony asked, with a small quick smile at him.
The Asgardian's eyebrows went up in offense, but Tony was already heading over towards the door.
"What is it?" Captain America asked, turning after him.
"I'm going to go and check it." Tony said.
Hawkeye watched him go with a scowl before glancing at Black Widow.
"Seems like walking out to it is very old fashioned."
"Maybe somethings are best the old fashioned way." Black Widow replied, leaning her head to side. If Hawkeye wasn't married, anyone would have suspected it for flirting.
Thor, meanwhile, decided to follow Tony outside, although he stopped once he was at the bottom of the steps. Captain America joined him after a moment. They were both obviously ready for the report whenever it should come.
"That would definitely annoy you too." Hena said and Thor turned his head towards Loki and her approaching from a ways off.
"Well, it isn't at this moment." Loki replied, pointedly, jerking his head back behind them.
Hena glanced in the direction of the Asgardian soldiers, face contemplative "Alright, you have a point there. And I guess if something did happen, I would be glad they were here. Not that I would need it with you and the rest of the people here, but they are from home."
"I agree." Loki replied.
"But don't tell my father that." Hena said, turning to him with a pointed finger "He still needs to think that I don't like it.
"Don't worry about me. I won't say a word." Loki said, face amused "You might, though. I can't imagine you keeping this quiet around him."
"Hey, he's the best, but being a daughter makes life a bit harder than you think. He's very protective."
"That's probably a good thing." Loki told her "Usually, anyway. He IS your father. What do you expect from him?"
"Exactly what he does." Hena replied grudgingly "But it's hard too. Sometimes I want to tackle him to the ground."
"Yes, all one hundred pounds of you." Loki chuckled.
"Hey!" Hena put her hands on her hips indignantly, face sinking into a sharp scowl "You don't think it when people call you little, so I would think you wouldn't do it to others."
"Why do you think I dislike it?" Loki asked.
"Oh, come on. You're tiny for a Frost Giant. They're probably all more than twice your size." Hena said, folding her arms.
"Yes, just right for dear Hena." Loki replied teasingly.
The Anaheimien woman leaned forward and hit him briskly on the arm, shoving him away slightly.
"Okay, I'm sorry." Loki said, although his voice still laughed.
"Good." Hena replied with a firm nod of her head. But her posture immediately softened "Me too, that was mean." Then she caught sight of the Ironman machine coming in. It landed near Tony, who walked up to it.
"What's going on?" she asked, beginning to walk over to him.
"One of his suits got footage of something foreign." Captain America answered for her. Noticeably, he was using the same wording as Tony "We'll check it out in a minute."
Hena glanced over at him and then over his head the Warriors waiting on the porch. Evidently, it was an impatient group.
"Hm." Hena returned her eyes to Tony, then to Loki "I'll be right back."
The God of Mischief raised his eyebrows, but he didn't protest as she made her way over to the suit. His amused eyes followed her.
Thor walked over to his younger brother slowly. He still found it interesting, but not surprising that Hena couldn't probe Loki's emotions either. He'd always been very private about how he felt. Frigga had been able to discern many things just like Hena could.
Thor watched Loki's face as he arrived beside him.
"So." he prompted "Hena."
For a split second, Loki waited for Thor to continue and then he noticeably paused when his older brother did not, almost as if the air got cold. He stood there awkwardly for a moment, as if going over what he had just heard. There hadn't been any indication that Thor intended to add more.
Loki gave one swift glance at his brother before opening his book and walking forward without another word. Thor did a double take at where Loki had been standing a moment ago, as if he really had been expecting him to respond.
Captain America watched the scene, along with the Warriors, but he didn't approach his friend, who was now standing alone in the field. It was hard to tell, but he may have been holding back a laugh. Volstagg and Fandral shared a brief glance, but neither of them said anything to each other.
A ways away, Tony was now leaving the machine, so Hena turned back around ahead of him. She joined Loki, who had gotten closer to her while avoiding Thor's conversation opener.
"What is it?" Captain America called out to Tony.
"Well, machine is fine." his friend replied "Can't see any visual damage. We'll just connect this camera on inside and we should be in business."
Unfortunately, the general consensus among the group was that they hoped it was Frost Giants who had come to Earth. Even if nobody said it, the Jotuns had been much easier to deal with than Red Skull.
Tony brought in a small rectangular device that was transparent, and yet still had a screen on it. He flicked it at his board set up in the living room and a video recording of a very green pasture came up. Because the Ironman suit flew so smoothly, it was hard to see that it was actually moving over the field.
Hena and Loki had joined them inside now as they waited for the news.
The footage didn't change for a moment and then the suit came to an abrupt stop. It steadied itself in midair and then focused on a very specific spot of land a bit below it.
"Very weird that we now have to say 'please don't be an alien, please don't be an alien.'" Tony commented, folding his arms very casually.
The video continued for several moments like that and then the footage changed again. It showed the horizon and trees in the background, indicating that the suit had returned to the air.
Hawkeye looked briefly surprised.
"Um, was that just me, or did nothing just happen there?"
"Replay that." Captain America said, taking a step closer with a concerned frown.
"Thank you, I wouldn't have thought to do that." Tony replied.
The second round of the footage showed the exact same thing. A completely empty field and no beings coming or going.
"Why are we watching this?" Hawkeye asked.
"Because something...tripped the motion sensor on this suit." Tony said, walking forward and zooming in on the video. He paused it where the camera focused in on one particular spot and concentrated on the picture.
"What is it we are meant to be seeing?" Fandral asked.
Tony scoffed "That's a good question."
He pushed play on the video again.
"There. Right there." he said, pointing at it "That's where it says something moves."
The screen appeared blank however. Nothing but an empty field. Not even as much as a bird flew past the camera.
"That can't be right." Captain America said under his breath as he stared at it "Are we sure this isn't some kind of a malfunction?"
"Well, no one can ever be entirely sure, but I make damn well pretty close to certain that these things don't happen." Tony replied, swiping at a few things on the screen. He glanced over at Loki "Could this be one of those shrouding enhancements you mentioned before?"
"Oh, wow, I was going for invisible creature." Captain America said, but he also turned.
Loki waited a moment before responding, eyes hovering over them for a moment.
"I highly doubt that anything you have here would be able to detect someone employing such methods." he said evenly.
"Then, invisible beings?" Tony asked with a shrug "Ever heard of those?"
Loki blinked slowly "Forgive me, but I'm not accustomed to trusting one of your machines to give accurate information on when and where a portal opens."
"Oh, well, you're forgiven." Tony replied, turning back to face the board. Loki narrowed his eyes in his direction.
"I've never heard of any creatures that can turn invisible." Hena said, voice curious "Honestly, though, if they existed, it's possible no one would know about them."
"Good point." Tony said, without looking over at her.
"Something sensing motion wouldn't pick up something invisible." Captain America pointed out.
"My sensors are a bit more sensitive than one you pick up at Home Depot. Abnormal air flow, temperature changes. All the fun stuff." Tony said, continuing to move the things around on the screen.
"Maybe a portal created air movement?" Hena suggested, with a glance at Loki "Just because one opened doesn't mean that something had to go through."
"That is probable." Loki replied "But, I don't know if it would actually cause any sort of detectable difference if a being wasn't coming through."
"It's a connection between two realms though, right? That means they have shared space and intangible things could pass through." Hena said.
"It is a connection, yes, but many portals do not actually share space. There is not a way to be in between two realms unless your portal created a visible appearance of the other connecting realm. If you can look into a portal and see where you are going, then air flow would be possible. To do that, you have to sustain it for a very long time." Loki gestured at the screen "And it was neither sustained nor visible."
Hena nodded slowly "Alright, that makes sense."
"So, either my technology is broken or we have an invisible alien here." Tony replied, looking in between the two of them.
"I have never heard of such a being." Thor said, echoing Hena's words. The Warriors all murmured agreement under their breath. Hena looked back at Loki.
"I have no explanation to offer." he said with a small shake of his head.
They all ruminated on that for a moment as they stared at the replaying video footage. It was almost as if they wished they had overlooked something.
"Then we'll need to keep an eye on the news." Captain America said finally, breaking the silence "Terrorist attacks could be in high supply this week."
"Because Channel 8 News has such marvelous method for detecting things that aren't there." Tony replied, clearing his throat.
"A little higher." Hawkeye instructed and then leaned forward to catch the ball being thrown at him "That's it, good job."
He carefully tossed it back, throwing underhand for his youngest son's benefit. The last time they'd played, Cooper had been a bit too eager and it had resulted in a nice round bump on Nathaniel's head. Hawkeye was building up his son's confidence again.
"Are you ready to try it with all three of us?" he asked, gesturing at Cooper.
Nathaniel nodded "Yes, but don't throw it hard yet."
"We won't throw it hard at all, okay?" Hawkeye assured him "You throw it to Cooper and I'll throw it to you."
There were several glasses of lemonade sitting on the picnic table, some of them full and others partially gone. Laura had made it for them after an insisted dinner.
Just about everyone was outside at the moment. The only person who remained inside was Banner at the moment. Captain America had busied himself in splitting the pile of wood next to the house, but the amount unchopped was diminishing.
Every single one of the nonmortal beings were somewhat close together not far from the porch. Even though Hena spoke with each of the Warriors, Loki kept his interaction to a minimum. She would draw him in occasionally, but even then, he mostly spoke with her. They were more separated from the others. Right now, both of them were quiet, listening to the other's conversations just a few feet away.
Tony was giving his suit a thorough check, just to try and rule out any possibility that there had been a malfunction. So far, there was nothing wrong he could find. Once Captain America had finished with the wood, he walked over to him to check the status.
"So, Loki, when do I get to meet your father?" Hena asked, eyes focused in the distance as she twirled her hair around one finger. Then, she glanced at him with curious eyes. Thor did the same.
"You can't." Loki replied simply "He's dead."
Hena scowled ever so slightly, eyes alarmed for a moment. Then the scowl deepened.
"Oh." she swatted a hand at him irritably "You know who I mean."
"Oh Odin." Loki said in very mellow mock realization as he nodded his head in understanding. Thor's eyebrows furrowed.
"Yes Odin." Hena replied "Is he coming here?"
"I'm sure he'll be here to check on us at some point or another." Loki told her with just a hint of contempt, although not aimed at her.
"Well, today would be lovely because my father is coming. They really should speak." Hena said.
"When is he coming by the way?" Captain America asked, having left Tony's side. Hena turned slightly to face him.
Q"Soon, I imagine." she replied "He said early this afternoon."
"Do different realms run on the same time?" Captain America asked, actually surprised that thought hadn't come to him before.
"I don't know about other realms, but Anaheim is slightly different from yours. But, I imagine he'll come in your time, not ours." Hena said.
"No hint of the news he's bringing?" Captain America asked.
Hena shook her head slightly "Hmhm. No. But I will tell you that he didn't seem overly concerned."
"Did Stark find anything that could explain what happened?" Thor asked Captain America, his low voice very different from the woman next to him.
"Nope." Captain America replied with a shake of his head.
"Well, I do agree with Loki as this is concerned." Fandral said with a dip of his head "Perhaps mortal technology is not as reliable as you think."
Captain America scoffed in amusement, glancing at the ground for a second "You know, I'm probably the last person in the world who should given an opinion on the technology we have, so I'm not going to argue."
"Heads!" Hawkeye called suddenly, warning them to get out of the way. All of them glanced back and then Sif and Captain America both moved backwards to avoid the overthrown ball. Hawkeye trotted over to them and took it from the his friend, who had leaned to pick it up.
"So, you do overshoot sometimes." Captain America said.
"You wish." Hawkeye replied.
"Hey, dad!" Cooper called over.
"Yeah?" Hawkeye turned back to begin walking over.
"Nathaniel and I are going to go and practice fighting instead." he said "Is that okay?"
"Oh, sure, sure." Hawkeye replied in offense as he threw the baseball into his mit a few times "You guys go and play. I'll go back to work."
Both of the boys immediately let out undiscernable cries of protest at him.
"See, that's what happens when you don't want to play with me." Hawkeye said, shaking his head "I just assume I'm not needed."
At another heartfelt objection from his children, he broke into a smile. Immediately, they saw that he was joking and their faces faded to relief.
Laura, over at the picnic table with Lila, smiled slightly, but continued helping her daughter. The girl handed Black Widow her new sewn creation, obviously proud of it.
"My father would make jokes like that all the time." Hena said, taking her eyes away from the children "And I could never stand the guilt. I think I deal with it even worse now than I did then."
"Ah, they're boys." Hawkeye said with a wave of his arm "Very rarely do they remember what I say."
"Apparently, that's just what fathers do." Hena replied with almost a roll of her eyes. Her gaze landed on Thor "But you really should see if Odin is going to come." she then looked at Loki, who shrugged, indicating that he wasn't going to have anything to do with that. It was up to Thor.
"Heimdall can give him a message." Thor said.
"My father seeks to counsel with him." Hena replied "Besides, whatever is happening on Anaheim might be good for Odin to know about."
"I have actually been wondering if your father is seeing the same type of thing that we are here." Loki said with a nod of his head towards Tony. Hena blinked.
"That would make sense." she said grimly "Not urgent, yet not something he can ignore."
Then Ironman suit took off into the air, apparently having been released from inspection by Tony. They all watched it for a moment, conversation falling silent as Tony began to walk over. Then, after a few moments, Hena looked at Loki.
"Alright, who's Red Skull?"
The question caught everyone off guard and several of them looked at her in surprise. Loki, however, let out a frustrated sigh.
"Please don't do that." he said, with obvious irritation "I really wish you wouldn't, Hena."
"I'm sorry, I really try not to." Hena apologized "But sometimes, it's hard not to. Earlier when we were outside, you suddenly just had this really strong anger emanating from you. I thought it was going to be at someone here, but it wasn't. You were thinking of a totally different person. Actually, you were thinking of memories of them, which is why I could see it. You know me, I can't usually tell what you're feeling, so when it's that strong...I don't know, it's enticing."
"You know, for most people, that would be a warning to stay away." Loki replied, looking at her.
"I know, but not for me. I don't have any boundaries." Hena said offhandedly, blinking at him as she maintained her serious face "So, who is he?"
Loki let out a deep breath and leaned his head forward slightly "I'd very much prefer not to bring you into that."
"I'm already here. Nothing is going to change that." Hena replied "Will you just tell me? What happened to make you hate him so much? Because honestly, the only person who dislikes him as much as you is him." she inclined her head toward Captain America.
"Mhm." Loki said with one nod without giving any hint of what he was thinking.
Hena waited a second, leaning forward expectantly. She waved a hand to cue Loki to continue, but he shook his head.
"Loki." Hena said, dropping her head for a moment, dragging out his name for several seconds.
"Yes, that is my name." Loki said, still as patient as the first time she asked.
"Please?" she asked again.
Thor recalled as she spoke that she couldn't see what had happened to Loki during his time in the Void. At least after he left Anaheim. All of the others around were also looking at him, obviously curious. Even Laura and Black Widow were paying attention while still entertaining Lila.
Loki's face had folded into a scowl and he let out a frustrated breath.
"Him and I met years ago. And neither of us enjoyed each other's company, alright?"
"Alright." Hena said with an accepting nod "Now, go on."
"There is nothing to tell." Loki's tone was getting vaguely exasperated.
"Obviously there is because you don't want to tell it." Hena said, putting one hand on his arm compassionately. Loki moved it away immediately, eyebrows furrowing uncomfortably.
"Oh, right, sorry, no pity." Hena said, pulling her hand back and raising it peaceably.
Loki breathed out a faint laugh, shaking his head at the ground with his eyes closed.
"He made threats that I knew he was capable of carrying out." he said "Once it came time to really decide who could better execute plans, we dueled, nearly killed each other, I triumphed, end of story."
"Wait." Hena said, eyes wide "If you dueled, how is it that both of you are still alive? Or that you are still alive, if you won."
"Reminds you of another situation, yes?" Loki asked, eyes lighting up briefly with amusement. He seemed to be referring to something only the two of them would remember "Unfortunately, someone intervened and that mutant is still alive." he continued, obviously recalling bitter thoughts. Captain America nodded ever so slightly, mostly to himself. The air fell silent for a moment.
"Was it Thanos who intervened?" Hena asked, appreciating how bold the question was, but not shying away from it in the least.
Loki's eyes flicked over to her, the way they always did when someone mentioned the God of Death's name. He stared for a moment, as if pondering whether or not to answer.
"Yes." he said finally. It was clear at that point he wasn't going to speak anymore on the matter.
Fandral shifted ever so slightly, indicating that he felt a little awkward at the silence, but Hena had no reserves whatsoever.
"Interesting." she replied thoughtfully "You know, I really don't think you should keep dueling as a hobby."
Loki looked at her "To be fair, I have never ever instigated a duel. And besides, that is only the second one I have had in my lifetime."
"You didn't start that one either?" Hena asked, mouth open slightly.
"No. But the first one certainly prepared me for that one." Loki replied.
"When was the first one?" Thor asked curiously, not remembering him ever having a duel on Asgard "Unless you are referring to fights and not actual duels. In which case, there would be much more than two."
"It was on Anaheim." Hena replied, sounding amused and flustered at the same time "There is this man named Adden there. He's a guard to our family. To put it simply, he admired me from a far for several years and it wasn't a hidden desire either. He is very sweet and a very talented soldier as well. He has always been protective of the royal family. He challenged Loki to a duel while he was there, which, honestly, was quite unlike him. But Asgard was known for being...violent. That's a poor word, but you know what I mean. Duels would be far more common there than on Anaheim, so I suppose Adden just thought he was also challenging that tradition as well."
The corner of Loki's mouth rose slightly as he listened to her recall the events. Thor glanced at him momentarily.
"It wasn't funny." Hena protested, looking indignant "That was very scary for me."
"Yes, because you thought I was going to get killed." Loki said, so obviously hiding a grin.
"Hey." Hena shook a scolding finger at him "He was bigger than you and I had absolutely no idea how well you could fight. Nor did I know you could use magic that well either." then she put her hands on her hips "My father was so calm about the whole thing too, which made me mad."
"No one expected me to vanish did they?" Loki asked.
"No. Not a one. Least of all Adden himself." Hena retorted.
"Was this a duel to the death?" Thor asked and Loki gave one nod in his general direction.
"It was." Hena said grudgingly "And Loki won. But he didn't kill him. In fact, he let him go. Adden is still very alive today."
Thor's eyebrows went up, along with several of the others. Hena nodded at them.
"And it was like my father knew you would best him the whole time." she said, looking over at Loki. The God of Mischief shrugged slightly.
"He was farther out of his depth than he realized." he said evenly.
"I completely agree." Hena replied "You were well within your rights to have killed him though."
"I am aware." Loki said, smiling ever so slightly.
"If the roles had been reversed, he would have taken your life." Hena said, obviously still very upset about it. Then she closed her eyes for a moment "I mean, I really liked Adden, but that was just ridiculous of him."
"You were getting worried for him by the end though." Loki said.
"Well, yes." Hena admitted "I hate duels. I don't want anyone to die. And no one had to in this one."
"Why did he challenge you?" Thor asked, almost certain of the answer already. He stared at Loki expectantly.
"I don't know. He didn't like me." his brother replied, with a touch of mock innocence as he tilted his head at Thor "You'd have to ask him that."
Thor's eyebrows remained up as if wanting Loki to admit even more. But his brother returned his eyes to the woman next to him as she looked upward as if searching for something in the sky suddenly. She smiled again and glanced back at the others.
"They're coming now." she said, her eyes trailing back to Loki in amusement.
After a pause among them, Tony spoke.
"You do mean your parents, right? No offense, but we are a very jumpy group."
"Oh, yes, my parents." Hena assured him with a few nods "I just thought I would warn you, as our way of traveling tends to be much quieter than the Bifrost."
"It does spare the grass though." Loki observed, speaking in her direction.
Hawkeye almost laughed, but he managed to settle for a small smile.
"Yes, Asgard should probably take mercy on our poor mortal lawns." Tony said. Loki didn't reply to him, but he stared around Hena towards the empty field. Thor followed his gaze. A bright light appeared and continued getting more intense until the group was forced to avert their eyes.
Then Valder and Svleiva were there, smiling at the group.
Thank you so much for reading, let me know if you enjoyed it. XOXOXOXO guys, you're the best!